


The Kids Aren't Alright

by scrawly_times



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Changelings, Changelings (Trollhunters) Have Issues, Fantasy, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25781539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawly_times/pseuds/scrawly_times
Summary: Based on the tumblr tag 'tfp the kids aren't alright'.Jack wants to fly, wants to get the magical burning under his skin to stop, wants to prove himself before he comes of age and the Janus Order decides he's not useful enough to keep alive.Raf wants to be human, wants to stop hurting and itching in his own skin, wants to just explore science and technology in peace without wondering who may kill him today.Miko wants to never be human again, wants to tear the beating human heart out of her chest, wants to be good enough that nobody will even think about challenging her right to live.All three kids want a lot of things and as changelings, they're used to not getting them.But none of them were quite expecting the Autobots.
Comments: 52
Kudos: 111





	1. Jackson

**Author's Note:**

> HEYYO if you don't know much about the Trollhunters fandom, this fic may be confusing! The kids won't be very clear either! 
> 
> Basically, ~changelings and trolls and magic~ 
> 
> I'm sure you guys will catch on ;) 
> 
> Thanks to tumblr for helping me enjoy and develop this idea for a while! I'm not planning on doing a full rewrite of TFP but if there's a solid point that the kids being changelings changes canon I WILL cover it. Overall, the kids being changelings doesn't change canon scenes all that much- their human disguises are near perfect, so canon proceeds as normal. 
> 
> What we're going to explore for this au is mostly what happens OUTSIDE of canon 
> 
> For the Trollhunters side of things, I'm gonna claim that the two shows start at the same time. Which means while Not Enrique is the youngest changeling, there's still been Some changelings made before him. They tend to be made in generational batches.

The changeling that took Jack Darby's place was young. He had been in the Darklands for less than two hundred years. Not even an adult by troll standards, especially stuck in miniature form like he was. 

His forcefully grown stalkling wings and rare jaeger tribe had made him a unique, powerful experiment despite his relative inexperience. Changelings weren't strong _and_ small. There were larger changelings, certainly, but Jack's jaeger heritage condensed his strength and made him small enough to fit the stealthier aspect needed from changelings. 

If his cross-type succeeded in the field they were going to expand the effort of locating and acquiring jaeger whelps more often. Which was hard, as jaeger clans were nearly extinct, but the Gumm-Gumms in charge of changeling production were very eager to get more 'products'. Needless to say Jack hoped they couldn't find any. No one deserved that. Nobody deserved _this._

Not that they even would attempt that, considering he was failing rather miserably at almost anything changeling. He was too floppy and clumsy as a newly instated changeling; the size of a basketball and nothing but gangly limbs. 

As he grew he only got clumsier. His tail was too heavy and too easy to whip around on accident in turn. His wings were constantly outgrowing the rest of him and far too big. His horns ached and itched as they twisted and turned, having to be trimmed and reshaped several times to avoid them growing into his face. His balance was forever a shifting mess that left him bruised and beaten from training. 

That was only _physically._ His human disguise sucked. He could never fit in with other children, couldn't act normal or find an act that made him weird in an acceptable way. He just couldn't figure it out. 

And then just when his body started to even out, puberty hit. Dear Baba Yaga, puberty hit _hard._

Human puberty was bad enough. To add troll puberty? Two _types_ of troll puberty? Jack was flipping back and forth between three different natures and all of them drastically different. Human hormones mixed with jaeger energy and feral stalkling aggression. Even human form wasn't safe from troll instincts with the magic crackling through him. 

Jack was a conflicted tangle of magically enhanced rage and hormones at all times and it _wasn't_ pretty. Changelings weren't as aggressive as trolls but they still didn't allow bratty upstarts. Jack got taught a lesson more times than he could count because he just could not _control_ himself. 

Keeping his awkward human form was hard enough. He liked to think he was doing a pretty good job of keeping himself from flipping out in human form and his trainers even agreed. But "pretty good" wasn't enough for changelings. Jack knew it. And if he didn't shape up and start making himself useful before his forties he'd be culled, unique tribe or not. 

It wasn't fair but nothing in life was fair, so Jack didn't waste time bemoaning his situation and just focused on trying to fix it. Hopefully his magical puberty ended before he was killed for being a waste of a changeling.

* * *

In Jack’s defense, he’d had a very long, stressful day and was fighting back every instinct in him that said to rip the annoying teenagers’ heads off. He was struggling and he was trying to calm himself down before he broke cover. 

So the absolutely _gorgeous_ motorcycle sitting outside in the KO parking lot caught his attention in a heartbeat. He _had_ to go check it out. Once he was older he was getting a motorcycle for _sure._ It was the closest a human could come to flying. 

"Oh look at you!" He breathed. 

If he’d been paying more attention he might have noticed an odd smell around the bike, or heard the sounds of shifting mechanics far from the likes that humans could make, but Jack was digging every thought process into _normal human_ and was trying to ignore his senses and instincts so he didn't rip an idiot teenage boy's head off. He’d been distracted even further when Sierra walked up and he had to try and act the crushing, dorky teenager. His trainers had "suggested" finding a hopeless crush as a tactic to make himself more relatable. 

Which was an embarrassing ordeal, because Jack sucked at acting when he was angry. And he was _angry._

So Jack was pretty sure Sierra thought he was crazy, but it was fine. Just another check in the long list of things Jack failed at. 

And then the bike popped a wheelie all by itself and drove between two weird cars and Jack was more occupied with clinging on for dear life. His mom was a _nurse_ and he knew what happened when flimsy human bodies went flying over asphalt. 

“Do not let go!” 

“I didn’t plan on it!” Jack yelped, clinging even tighter. “Wait, what?!” 

He was _pretty_ positive motorcycles didn’t talk, normally. Was that a thing? It wasn't a thing, right? 

The bike drove itself into an alleyway and Jack hopped off somewhat reluctantly. 

“What _are_ you?” He stammered, backing away as the bike’s headlights glared at him like a set of eyes. 

“I don’t exist.” The bike said venomously, making Jack only more curious. “Tell anyone about me and I will _hunt you down.”_ It even bobbed and moved as it spoke in emphasis. Or… they? They sounded vaguely feminine but Jack knew better than to judge by voices. 

Jack nodded absently, staring in complete confusion. The bike inched towards him. He didn’t back away, he was too used to changeling intimidation tactics to show that sort of weakness. 

The bike paused momentarily as if surprised he wasn’t wetting himself but made a noise and drove around him, weaving through the alley expertly. Jack ducked down the other alley and held his hands to his head with a groan. 

“Shoot, I’m gonna have to _report_ this.” He contained the urge to growl. “Nobody’s gonna believe me. Miko’s gonna say I made it up.” Jack kicked a trash can with a decent amount of strength and his foot left a huge dent in it. “Ugh. Talking motorcycles, what kind of magic causes _that?_ Or...” He brought his mumbling down a notch, concerned about someone hearing him. 

There was a _loud_ roar behind him and Jack nearly jumped out of his human skin in sheer terror. 

Oh, it was just a car engine. 

Except it was the engine of one of the cars that was chasing the motorcycle. 

Jack cursed and broke into a sprint, making good time down the alleyway. The purple car rumbled in shock and sped off after him in a screech of tires. 

A second snarling engine came up behind him and Jack glanced back to see the motorcycle coming back for round two, making the _coolest_ jump over the car and speeding next to him in a clear invite. 

Jack hopped on before they could even say anything. He was not getting run over by some maniac car before he could even reach changeling 'adulthood'. That would be an _embarrassment._

The bike _sped_ down the road far faster than motorcycles could normally go. And Jack should know, he knew vehicle speed limits like the back of his hand. There were lots of random things changelings considered vital knowledge. 

The cars followed them and then started to shoot at them with lasers. Of course. 

Lasers. 

“What is going _on?!_ Why are they _shooting_ at- at you? At us? Oh my god am I an accomplice now?” Jack clung tight as the bike weaved around traffic. His heart was pounding but he… he felt _alive._

It was all he could do to not whoop in excitement. He was finally getting to ride the coolest motorcycle ever and it was everything he’d hoped and _more._ He would like the lasers to not be involved but that just added a touch of danger that made his inner changeling _purr._

“There is no _us,_ kid.” The bike scoffed and Jack felt offended. It wasn’t _his_ fault his human form was young. He got enough of the ‘kid’ stuff from other changelings. 

A black and yellow car joined the fray and Jack watched with interest as it helped distract the other cars. 

“Friend of yours?” He asked calmly, wondering if he’d even have time to change forms if everything went to shit. Wondered if surviving the fight would be worth being killed for exposing his troll form. He wasn't too frightened by the idea. He was nearly killed on a weekly basis training anyway. 

“Family.” 

Well wasn’t _that_ interesting? Jack actually drew back a bit before he ducked low on the bike and focused on reducing wind resistance for the meantime. Maybe he’d get answers later? He hoped he did. 

The Order was going to literally _filet_ him if he didn’t get answers for the chaos happening right now. 

After some cool speeding and some trick riding off the highway, Jack nearly whooped in thrilled anxiety when the bike _flew_ through the air. 

And then they landed and the bike’s headlights shone directly on a familiar small figure standing with a dropped jaw. 

Oh for _fucks’ sake-_

“Woah.” Rafael pushed his glasses up, jaw dropped and stared at Jack with wide eyes. “Are you _allowed_ to have that bike?” He said. 

He nearly continued on - probably something about the things the Order didn’t let _him_ have - when Jack stumbled off the bike and backed away from it respectfully. The bike was clearly conscious so he didn't want to remain on them longer than he had to. Raf watched curiously until engines roared up above and they all turned to the top of the canal. 

And then both of them just kinda stared for a moment as the cars changed and twisted into robots. Giant robots. 

“I’m pretty sure this is beyond our jurisdiction.” Raf said plainly. 

“Uh huh, let’s uh-” Jack started to usher him out of the way as the bike transformed too. 

Both of them watched, completely baffled, as the robots proceeded to duke it out. The bike seemed pretty angry. She seemed rather feminine so until corrected otherwise Jack was just going to refer to her as feminine. 

“What _are_ they?” Raf turned his head to Jack slightly, as implacable as ever. Did _anything_ ever phase him? 

Not really, from what Jack knew of Order meetings and training. But he could at least _act_ surprised. 

“Talking cars that turn into robots? Or the other way around.” Jack blinked and they both winced as the blue one was knocked down. Raf made an acknowledging noise at Jack’s subtle way of saying ‘I have no idea’. 

Another robot joined the fray just in time to help the blue one out. The yellow and black colors said they were _probably_ the muscle car from the highway. They stepped on Raf’s toy car in the process of joining the fight. 

Raf sighed, disappointed. Jack felt a little disappointed as well. Changelings weren't encouraged to hold onto childhood habits, especially when they were only for cover anyways. But most changelings enjoyed the simple nature of being a child. And Jack knew Raf wouldn't get a remote car like that replaced easily. Those were _expensive._

The yellow robot made some whirring noises and Raf shrugged. 

“It’s… okay.” He tilted his head and then jumped. “Watch out-!” 

The yellow bot narrowly dodged the blast headed in his direction and the fight was on again. 

“Was that a laser?” Raf said, baffled. 

“Apparently?” Jack groaned. 

While the yellow one was distracted, one of the purple robots tilted their head and looked straight at them. 

“Oh no.” Jack crouched into a defensive posture, wishing he had wings to flare right now. “Should we..?” 

“These _are_ extenuating circumstances,” Raf began. “But let’s not risk that right now! Let’s just go!” Raf grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him along at a run. Jack pulled ahead quickly and they both sprinted away from the approaching robot. 

Fortunately they both knew about the sewer runoff pipe, that was the entire reason Raf was playing with his toy car out here after all. It was his turn on guard duty. They ducked inside just ahead of reaching claws until loud clattering sounded through the metal pipe. 

A curious beeping echoed around them and Raf stopped briefly to turn and see the yellow robot looking down the pipe at them curiously. 

“Um- thank you!” Rafael waved and kept running. Neither of them wanted to be there if purple guys had backup. 

So they ran, and kept running, until they came to a small partitioned off section of sewer that had a peculiar crack in the wall. They both looked around to make sure nobody had followed them. Jack reached into his shirt and pulled out the key around his neck. 

“You keep yours around your neck?” Raf asked, hands in his pockets and looking distant. 

“Easier to keep track of it,” Jack shrugged and inserted the key into the crack. The key and crack glowed green and the entire wall split apart to reveal a small hideout. “So. Um…” Jack slipped inside and collapsed on a chair, dropping his human form the moment the wall slid shut behind Raf. 

“What did we just see?” Raf sat down in another chair but kept his human form, kicking his feet through the air. 

“No idea?” Jack whined, gray wings curling up and stretching in turn. 

He explained the brief context he had about the robots, as little as it was. Raf listened patiently and calmly. 

“I know we don’t really know each other,” Raf said. “But…” 

“We’re gonna have to investigate this.” Jack rubbed his face with a tired growl. “Either that or just report what we _do_ know to the Order and have it taken over by senior agents.” 

“Exactly.” Raf shrugged. “We have a _chance_ here to actually strike out and get a foot ahead.” 

“Especially a foot ahead of _Miko.”_ Jack snarled slightly. Even though he’d been in the human world _longer_ she was still always somehow one step ahead of all the other changelings in their generation. 

“She came _out_ of the Darklands experienced,” Raf pointed out. “You and I are both a lot further behind her. If we pursue this lead and collect an actually detailed report to hand to the Janus Order…” 

“That’ll give us something to start our careers off with.” Jack nodded affirmatively. “But still, why _here?_ Why Jasper?” He sighed and pulled his feet into the chair to perch more comfortably, tail curling around his legs and flicking. “Changelings are introduced to the human world here _specifically_ because it’s so out of the way it makes for the perfect ‘middle of nowhere’ town to base future documents out of. What’s so important out here that some… some giant _robots_ happen to be driving through?” 

“Maybe it was accidental?” Raf suggested. “They could literally just be passing through.” 

“X for doubt.” Jack grumbled. 

“Fair enough.” Raf laughed. “But we’re going to have to start looking.” He checked his phone. “Later tonight, though, because I was supposed to be home like… twenty minutes ago.” 

“Shit-”

* * *

Their late night searching didn’t do much good, though Jack at least enjoyed the chance to go out and stretch his wings. No clue, only faint scuff marks in the canal, no trace of where they’d gone… 

“Does that… smell…” Jack knelt down next to scorch marks, nose twitching. Raf walked towards him curiously. 

“What?” Raf looked down at the black marks curiously. 

“Just- change forms, I swear, this smells _familiar_ somehow.” Jack waved his claws over and Raf sighed. 

A yellow-green flash of light later and a massive figure crouched down next to him. 

“You’re right…” Raf’s troll form was a _lot_ bigger than Jack remembered it being. “It smells like…” Raf sniffed pointedly and pressed his snout to the ground in a deep inhale. “...Spire crystals?” 

“Spire crystals?” Jack drew back in surprise. “Aren’t those like… the highly explosive crystals filled with energy that trolls like to eat?” Jack tried sniffing again. He'd only ever even seen one once during training since they were so hard to mine. The scent still smelled familiar but not enough to notice anything that definitive. Raf’s nose was _way_ better than his. 

“Trolls eat them like five hour energy drinks, yeah.” Raf nodded and sneezed faintly. “It makes sense that those robots need to have some sort of fuel source, though. Spire crystals are notoriously powerful.” 

“Yeah, but…” Jack straightened up from his crouch and looked around warily. “Who gets ahold of Spire crystals and uses all that energy to… make giant robots?” He whipped his tail around in frustration. 

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll know soon.” Raf’s massive body glowed green and shrunk hilariously back into the tiny shape of his human form. “If humans found out about changelings and got in the middle of a fight, what would we do?” 

“Kill them, probably.” Jack said immediately, then his ears flattened. “Ah.” 

“Well, yeah, but if they were _useful_ we wouldn’t.” Raf pointed out. “And even more, the ones who protected us seemed to be the ‘good guys’ in the situation. What do the _good guys_ do when humans come across them fighting?” With the understanding that changelings weren't the good guys, of course. 

“They protect them and make sure they _don’t_ get killed.” Jack followed, nodding along. “So we just…” 

“Wait for the bad guys to try to kill us, or the good guys to come to us." Raf nodded. "At the very least you said the purple car attacked you just for being seen with the motorcycle?" 

"That's what I guessed, I don't actually know." Jack sighed. "But you've got a point. Want our human forms to be seen together?" They both started heading back out towards the sewer tunnel since their search wasn't going anywhere. 

"That'd be best, it would help us in our search if we were seen as friends." Raf's legs had to move much faster to keep up with Jack. "Meet you after school tomorrow? We can come back here and see if they'll show up looking for us." 

"Sounds like a plan." Jack made a face as Raf's sneakers kicked through sewer water. "Why do you stay in human form all the time?" Jack didn't much like the sewer water sticking to the bottom of his baggy pants but his clawed feet were a much better choice than the water filling his shoes. 

"I don't like my troll form." Raf said plainly. 

Jack tilted his head and eyed the tiny human form. He nodded. "I guess that makes sense, you're pretty big. Have you grown even _bigger_ since the last Order meeting?" 

"By a foot." Raf quirked a smile miserably and shook his head. "You're a flyer so I doubt you like your human form much, but I'd be fully human any day." Raf held his hands up with a frown. "If only because I can't use my laptop when my hands are bigger than the entire keyboard." 

"Yeah no, I'd give my _human_ form up in a heartbeat." Jack shook his head. "I mean, I like June, but… there's nothing like _flying,_ man, I'd rather keep my wings." He hid the wistfulness in his voice talking about his human 'mother'. 

"That's fair." Raf smiled up at him with an odd understanding. 

They came to a split in the tunnels where they would both be taking opposite ways to their homes. Raf kicked his way through sewer sludge with a wave. Jack flicked his wings in farewell and got to thinking about how he'd hide the stench of sewer before he got in the house. Maybe sneak in through the bathroom window..?


	2. Big and Blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael gets an intro as well. We continue on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RAF'S THE FOCUS OF THIS CHAPTER! I'm reaaaaally hoping that y'all who DON'T know Tfollhunters get a good idea how screwed changelings are by the end of the first three chapters. It sucks. 
> 
> (I rly wanna edit the tags on this but so far I've been posting from my phone and I can't rip, they'll be updated eventually) 
> 
> I'm super glad to see y'all so interested in everything! This AU is a fond favorite of mine and it's great seeing everyone else so interested

Rafael was primarily krubera troll, with no obvious hints of other tribes. It was only rare to have single tribed changelings because the Gumm-Gumms would rather use whelps from that formidable tribe as their own brainwashed warriors rather than "wasting" them as changelings. 

Raf considered it a waste as well. 

After all he was constantly too big and too bulky, too sensitive to sunlight even with the immunity his familiar gave him. Every light UV or not _hurt_ his eyes and he felt _blind_ trying to do anything in troll form. Human form wasn't too much better and his glasses made it worse. 

He got sunburned all the time in human form in some bizarre, magical act of irony. If he was fool enough to walk in sun in his troll form his skin hardened and burned with heat. 

Fortunately many changelings had the same kind of "too big" problem, so Raf wasn't _too_ odd for it. And he was good at keeping his head down, good in school, good with technology- he was _great_ with technology, in fact, and wanted to maybe find a way to work with tech in the future. 

He was pretty decent all around all things considered. He just didn't like _himself._

Raf hated his troll form. Some changelings just _did._ He wasn't alone in that either. 

He hated the long, jarring scar across his chest. He hated his giant, clumsy fingers that broke everything he touched. He hated knowing that his human "family" would abandon him in a heartbeat if they saw his monstrous self. He hated how every time he changed forms he'd grown a foot and he was blinded by overwhelmingly powerful senses. 

He hated it but there was nothing he could do. Because to turn against the Order and try to live a normal human life meant his death. Meant his _familiar's_ death. Meant he wouldn't have a human form to hide in regardless. 

So Rafael bit his tongue and trained as he was directed and stayed in human form whenever possible. Because otherwise he would be dead. Because his familiar didn't deserve that. Because he didn't have any other options.

* * *

Jack was clearly not expecting the vehicle robots to show up at their school the next afternoon. He blinked rapidly and shook his head, staring at the car opening its door. 

Raf just watched calmly, uncaring but idly wondering why he understood the beeping and whistling. 

_"Come on in! Just you, little guy, Arcee's got the other."_

"Do they… want us to get in?" Jack asked, baffled. 

"No, just me." Raf said quietly, vaguely confused but still not freaked out. His life was already so damned weird this might as well happen. "Yours is over there." 

Jack's head turned to his pointed finger and saw the motorcycle parked in the lot, revving up and driving around the corner. Raf wondered how Jack had missed them. 

"Great." He said, sounding anxious. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Raf reassured with a subtle nudge. 

Jack looked at him despairingly. Raf raised his eyebrows pointedly. They had to get more information about these robots before reporting it or they'd _stay_ the newbie changelings who got shuffled aside for older ones. Raf had more going for him; if all else failed he'd end up as a technical expert in the Janus Order. 

But he knew Jack had very little opportunities left before his lackluster reputation settled in for good. And Jack knew it too. 

The other boy sighed and trudged around the corner reluctantly. "If we die I'm haunting you." 

Raf wanted sorely to snark back that they both had far worse people to get revenge on in a hypothetical afterlife but held his tongue. Instead he turned and looked into the car curiously. 

"I've never been in a car this fancy before," He said, awed and using the fascination to hide the way he checked for threats. 

The clicks that came after that sounded like laughter. _"Yeah, my alt-mode is pretty high end!"_

Raf was curious to note that there _definitely_ wasn't a driver. The seat was empty, steering wheel turning and gear shift moving on its own. He wasn't too knowledgeable on cars but a quick google on his phone while the car pulled out of the parking lot got him some answers. Fortunately the robot's 'alt-mode' was a pretty popular, if expensive, muscle car. 

"An… Urbana 500, right?" Raf asked tentatively. His head was spinning a little as he tried to think of how to say _'alt-mode'._ The word felt like it was auto-translating in his head but didn't exactly _have_ a convenient english equivalent. His head wanted to say something along the lines of 'secondary-form-that-provides-purpose' but he was pretty sure that would be incorrect if he said it in english. 

_"That's right! You're a pretty smart kid."_

"I'm not a kid," Raf said reflexively, frowning. "I'm twelve!" He remembered last second to 'act his age'. "And a quarter!" He tried to make sure to pout like the little kid he was supposed to be. 

_"Wait, you… understand me??"_ The car's voice whirred in sudden surprise. He was a good driver; didn't even wobble on the road despite the honking quality of shock to his noises. 

"...Yeah?" Raf winced. _Maybe_ he should have kept that hidden but he was also curious _why_ he could understand the language he'd definitely never heard before. Maybe the car robot would have an idea. "I don't know why. It's like I can _physically_ hear that you're clicking and beeping but I can still mentally understand it?" He shrugged helplessly. 

Even being a magical shapeshifting troll Frankenstein couldn't explain _this_ fuck up. 

_"That's… awesome!"_ The car clicked in laughter again to Raf's mild surprise. _"I haven't really spoken to a human yet, because they can never understand me. My name's Bumblebee."_ That last bit made his head hurt. 

"Wait… what?" Raf squinted. "I don't think there's like… a translation for that last one, my head just hurts." 

_"In english everyone calls me that one striped stinging insect, because you're right! There's not a direct translation into english for any of our names and organics can't speak cybertronian languages. So we've been translating our names as best we can into English words and phrases."_ The robot seemed more excited and Raf hummed thoughtfully. 

"Striped insect? You mean like a bee?" He could also mean a wasp or hornet but bee was the first that came to mind. 

_"That's part of it."_

"Bumblebee?" Raf suggested. 

_"Yeah, that! It's a cool name I think."_

"It is." Raf smiled and found it weirdly genuine. "My name's Rafael, but you can just call me Raf." He looked out the window at the passing desert. "It's weird that I can understand you but neither of us knows why. And some stuff that doesn't translate into english just hurts my head, but I still understand it..?" It made sense for this weird ability of his to have some sort of linguistic limits but it only made him more curious. 

_"It_ **_is_ ** _super weird, you're right. I hope you don't mind if our medic scans you when we get back to base?"_

"That's where you're taking us?" 

Raf ignored the sudden spike of anxiety at the idea of being scanned; changeling forms were human in every way possible. He doubted they'd be revealed. He was actually somewhat excited that they were being taken to the robots' _base._

 _"Yeah, I… forgot to tell you that?"_ Bumblebee sounded sheepish. _"It's for your protection, don't worry! We're trying to make sure those bad guys from yesterday don't hurt you two."_ Despite talking pretty normally Raf got the feeling he was being _slightly_ baby talked. 

"About those… you think they're going to come back for me and Jack?" Raf made sure to sound worried. 

_"It's likely, but we're gonna do everything we can to protect you. Optimus Prime himself said he wanted to meet you and make sure you're okay. Plus you probably have like a million questions? And we can answer some!"_

"A million and one," Raf laughed and Bumblebee joined him. "So like… who is… uh… the name you just said?" Something regal and authoritative, he could tell, but not much else. 

They spent the rest of the drive talking and chatting, quickly figuring out the kinks of Raf's weird ability and having a fun time as they did. Bumblebee was nice and _very_ excited to be able to talk to a human. Once he got the clue that Raf wasn't _that_ young and stopped dumbing himself down, Raf even started to enjoy it as well. It was… nice. 

After Raf had subtly grilled Bumblebee for information about the Autobots under the guise of mere curiosity - though Bumblebee said his leader would answer some of his questions better later - he let the bot ask his own. Fair trade. 

Bumblebee was surprised to hear he had _four_ older siblings plus some younger ones too and wanted to hear literally _everything_ about human life. It was a little bizarre trying to explain humans without the context of "I am not human myself" but Raf didn't think he slipped up anywhere. 

Getting out of the car to see _Miko_ riding behind a surly looking Jack nearly gave Raf a heart attack. He gave the older boy a 'what the hell!' look. 

Jack glared back at him as if to say 'I don't know, I don't like it, and I didn't have a choice!'. 

Miko, perfect as ever, remained in character and human as always throughout the rest of the very… _revealing_ day.

* * *

Raf was quiet while Bumblebee drove him home, staring out the window. The darkening sky made his stomach twist. 

His and Jack's plan to get some spotlight was officially failed. Miko would report this, like the perfect changeling she was, and they would both be punished for failing to do it themselves earlier. 

Even if it had only been a day. Even if they were trying to get more information. They had failed to do their duty. And even the slightest slip was severely punished. 

Changelings _had_ to. They _had_ to be harsh and unforgiving. Because their _masters_ were. Any changeling that wasn't perfect, any changeling that messed up, ran the risk of doing so in front of the ones who held their leashes hostage. 

_"...Are you okay?"_

Raf inhaled in surprise when Bumblebee spoke up. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Raf whispered. 

Bumblebee made a whirring noise that was more just an emotive sound than actual language. 

_"I promise, I'll keep you safe."_ Bumblebee's chirps were soft and concerned. 

Raf's heart beat painfully in his chest. He kept looking out the window and swallowed dryly. 

Bumblebee couldn't protect him from anything that really mattered. 

_"The Decepticons probably won't even remember you, they don't seem to care about humans at all."_ Bumblebee continued on cautiously. _"And as your guardian I_ **_swear_ ** _I'll protect you if they do."_

Raf wanted to cry. He wanted to cry and rail at the unfairness of it all. Because here was something offering him protection, safety, comfort- and it was a _lie._ It was all a _lie._ Everything he _was_ was a lie, Bumblebee couldn't protect him from _anything._

It hurt because he may have 500 years of experience fighting for everything he had but he still felt like nothing but a helpless whelp, looking for safety and someone to protect him and make him feel better. At least with his familiar's family he knew it was a lie. At least with them there were no grand declarations that tore into him with their morbid irony. 

_"Raf?"_ Bee whistled sadly and Raf could almost feel the melancholy in the cybertronian's voice. 

"It's okay." He was quiet and his chest hurt but Bumblebee was trying and he felt obligated to stop the friendly bot from worrying. "I'm just… stressed. And trying to figure out what to tell my parents about being out this late." 

_"It's going to be okay!"_ Bee said, beeping hopefully. 

"I hope so." 

A few minutes passed in silence. 

"...Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of the changeling lore is a mix of canon and canon, along with my own theories. I figure there's not likely many Krubera based changelings because they're such formidable warriors, Gunmar wouldn't want to waste them on filthy Impures 
> 
> Changeling Raf's motto is "This might as well happen" because he's 100000% just Done with life already anyways 
> 
> Also, I love the idea of Raf's ability to understand Cybertronians and the fact that it CAN'T translate perfectly, because languages just don't work like that. And the idea that changeling Raf doesn't even know Why he can understand it but is just kinda "well, this might as well happen" 
> 
> (Also a side note that the kids tend to refer to the bots as 'they/them' because they don't have traditional human gender presentation (why would they??? They're giant robots) and they DEFINITELY don't have the same markers that changelings do to denote pronouns, and the kids are ABSOLUTELY never going to call a living being 'it'. So they/them for caution's sake.) 
> 
> Raf's hurting pretty bad because changelings are... they're loners. They were abandoned, stolen, hurt, tortured. They don't trust people. But anyone who's been hurt still WANTS to be able to have that safety of someone who cares. But changelings have kinda had it been beat into them that they CAN'T trust anyone like that. 
> 
> Bumblebee's a nice big juicy apple that Raf's been starved for since birth, and Raf knows he Shouldn't take it but Bee is LITERALLY asking him to- I believe an awful lot in "show not tell" but I really do enjoy talking about the kids and how screwed up they've been lmfao


	3. Punk Rhymes with Pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miko is good, she's VERY good, but even she didn't see alien robots coming. Yikes. 
> 
> Oh she saw betrayal coming even less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOOOO everybody! I'm so happy everyone is eating this au up!!! Here's Miko's chapter! And we start getting into magic Spy shit :)

Miko was a good changeling. 

Not to say she was morally  _ nice,  _ no, in fact she was anything but. 

Miko was very, very good at being a changeling. Very good at every task her trainers gave her. Very good at fighting, stealing, stealth, trickery, magic, disguise,  _ everything  _ that kept a changeling  _ alive.  _

Miko was in the Darklands for over 700 years or so; or at least that was the general number. She lost count of towards the end. She only focused on getting _ out.  _ On proving herself worthy of it to her masters. On fighting tooth and claw to escape hell. 

700 years was a long time to starve. 

It hardened anyone. But Miko was hardened and sharpened and beaten into a titanium blade, gleaming and whispering as she slid it into your neck. 

Even when stuck in a small, helpless body for 700 years, Miko fought. She was arak and crag tribe, lithe and fast. She was tall and whipcord thin and more fragile than anyone else but harder to hit. Even in a whelp's body she was quick and deadly. She had no other choice but to be. 

Unlike most others who died in the Darklands from their own weakness she learned to fight as a whelp to defend herself. It was clumsy, based on utilizing her fangs and all four clawed arms, but it was something. She practiced - when she had the energy to do so - on stone pillars and any goblins that dared to get close. 

Miko finally stood out from her peers one day when she emerged from a pile of fighting changelings, covered in their blood but not hers, with a paltry bone all she had to eat. She had settled in with a resigned yet pleased air to chew her hard won bone when a hand swooped out of nowhere. 

Of course, that hand was badly scarred after it picked her up. But pick her up it did. And Miko stared, hissing and snarling and clawing at the Gumm-Gumm scientist that eyed her with a fangy grin. 

_ "A feisty one, but with some potential!"  _

The torture that followed was almost not worth standing above her peers. The spells that changed a troll whelp into a changeling weren't pleasant. Miko's chest was sore and tender sometimes to this day, where the giant scar that revealed the location of her familiar's heart never fully healed. 

But she made it out. And she was  _ good.  _ She was everything a changeling needed to be to survive and thrive. Fast, deadly, clever, quick-witted, rebellious but able to conform to save her skin. Miko was good. 

But she was stifled. Something was wrong lately. 

It was bizarre moving from her sheltered home in Japan to the much less structured schools of America. She still wasn't sure  _ why _ she'd been transferred. The changeling tutors here seemed determined to be average in every way. Miko's teachers in Tokyo outstripped them by far. 

But the Order had said move, so she moved. There was no denying her superiors if she wanted to keep her skin. Her familiar's parents didn't care anyways. They were perfectly neglectful as long as she remained an 'obedient daughter' when they were looking. And they rarely looked. 

She didn't like the changelings in Nevada. The other young changelings were likely to be culled  _ before  _ their majority even hit. Jasper was a boring town too- she sorely missed the entertainment and possibilities of Tokyo. 

But she was a changeling through and through in every way possible. And Miko didn't fight what the universe gave her, only learned to work around it and squeeze every drop of usefulness she could out of it.

* * *

Of all the things she expected to see when she rounded the corner after Jack, a giant pretty robot - lady? - was  _ not  _ it. 

The resulting trip was even more astonishing. 

Of course, Miko didn't let anything slip. She was too good for that. Her human form remained as fun and energetic and unhinged as ever, to compensate for the amount of precise control she forced over herself in her troll form. So unlike Jack and Raf she kept her behavior purely in character and not  _ bizarrely _ unfazed. 

Really, Raf was better at it than Jack but he needed to learn to act a little shocked. How were they supposed to maintain cover as normal humans if they acted like giant alien robots  _ weren't _ the weirdest/coolest things that had ever happened to them? 

Once the night was over with and the bots had dropped them all off at their houses, Miko checked her window. Bulkhead was parked down the street oh-so-subtly. Her new 'guardian' was rad as hell even if she didn't actually need him. He was  _ nice  _ too, fumbling and worried about her. It made her chest hurt a bit with his awkward sincerity. 

"Silly Bulky, badass but  _ not  _ made for stealth ops." Miko giggled darkly and closed her curtains. 

With a twist of her fingers she started to carefully cast a few spells. She didn't know what the bots' scans would pick up on, so she just went with every spell she knew. 

Miko was good at everything she did but she  _ excelled _ at magic. Changeling magic was unpredictability and chaos and everything she was made of. She wasn't the most powerful though, so she was panting and exhausted by the time her room was spelled to make sure Bulkhead thought she was still there and sleeping. Maybe she should figure out a way to spell _ him _ instead of the secondary cloaking. 

Breathing, a facsimile in her bed, an imitation of sleeping temperature heat source, something that would indicate tossing motion, along with a few baffling spells over the room to confuse and trick anyone into believing the glamour. And some other stuff. Just in case. 

Yeah, that was too complicated to do every time she needed to sneak out from under her new guardian's nose. She'd figure something out. For now she just took a moment to appreciate her good work. 

Then Miko walked calmly out the back door of her host house and jumped the backyard fence. She pulled out her phone once she was tucked away deep in the nasty sewers where long-crafted magic hid changeling paths from human sight.  _ And  _ technology, alien or otherwise, as Raf had assured them when they'd had a chance to subtly talk. 

Bumblebee was very chatty with the one human he could talk to and Raf texted them through Order hidden messages that the bots had no clue there was anything mysterious about Jasper. Obviously, or they wouldn't have made their base in an abandoned missile silo that was  _ on Order records.  _

She opened a text chat that was so wrapped up in magic it made her eyes hurt to read. 

_ PiderPider: u nerds otw?  _

_ Techie: Trying. B's a scout.  _

Miko winced with a sympathetic hiss, twisting and changing as she dropped human form. Four arms stretched behind her with a pop. 

Proper scouts were highly trained and  _ very _ skilled, with severe attention to detail. Bumblebee might have a disability in his voice but he wouldn't have made it this far in some age old galactic war if he wasn't  _ good.  _ Raf would have to figure that problem out on his own. 

_ Fuck: otw _

_ Fuck: RC isn't scout trained but still had a close call. had to say I was meeting up with a girlfriend to get her off my back ughhhh _

_ PiderPider: u suck lol  _

_ Fuck: not all of us are magic prodigies  _

_ Techie: figured it out, have some little siblings in my bed  _

_ PiderPider: ooo clever  _

_ PiderPider: see fuck up? Can't u b more like the techie here  _

_ Fuck: fuck you  _

_ Techie: otw  _

_ Fuck: otw to kick pider's ass  _

_ PiderPider: lolz already there, waiting 4 u nerds  _

Miko plucked her hidden key out of her hair, the hair clip gaudy and unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know otherwise. The changeling key slid into the cracked wall and opened the hidden entrance. She slid inside and then sighed as she had to really stop and  _ think _ through what she was going to say. 

Raf showed up first, staying in human form and sitting in a comically large armchair watching on while Miko stretched and warmed up her hooves, tail, and four arms. She  _ hated _ human form. It was clumsy, klutzy, weak, and vulnerable. She would rather stretch her real limbs any day. 

The two didn't speak until Jack finally showed up looking aggravated and flustered. He was in his troll form already. 

The moment the entrance slid shut behind him, Miko cast one small spell to see if there was anyone listening. Of course, there were. The air was filled with an dangerous tenseness that spoke of the important conversation that was about to take place. Then she spoke. 

"They can  _ never  _ know." 

The boys stared at her with wide eyes. 

"The bots? Yeah, obviously." 

Miko hummed affirmatively but tilted her head pointedly, a stretch that made her horns tilt all around the room. 

The other two looked shocked as she finished her set of stretches. 

"Well, you two nerds ready to to go on an exercise run?" She said cheerfully, an excuse only recognizable to the ones aware they had something to hide. 

"Do we have to?" Raf caught on quickly and whined. "You know I hate my troll form." 

"Speak for yourself, I'll be glad to stretch my wings." Jack said cautiously, wings flexing behind him. 

"Haha, funny, you two think you have a choice." Miko's grin turned deadly as she reached behind her with all four arms. 

"You're kidding me." Jack said tightly. The hiss as all four of her favorite hooked blades unsheathed made him turn around abruptly. "You're not kidding. Come on Raf, go go go!" Jack bolted out of the tunnels easily, long powerful jaeger legs capable of covering more distance per stride than her. 

Raf was clumsy to follow but follow he did. "Jack! I'm gonna kick your ass for ditching me!" His voice changed from squeaky and high pitched to deeper and gravelly as he changed to troll form halfway through. Even his bulky troll form could roll faster than his tiny human legs. 

Miko was after him in a flash and the chase was on. 

It was a regular exercise among the Order; hunt down your fellow changelings. Tag but with weapons and higher chance of maiming. But it was more than just "extra practice" now. It was an opportunity to speak somewhere the Order wouldn't listen in with magic or technology. 

Miko was very fast. Raf got scraped and chipped with her swords several times, following Jack's trail easily but slowly. She passed up Raf at one point to chase down Jack and give him a few licks for good measure. (Herding, she knew a good exit from the sewers that lead far out of town in the desert, rarely if ever used. Whether Jack let her herd him out of desperation to escape her blades or knowledge of what she was doing, Miko didn't care.) If Jack was in an open area he'd be faster but she ruled in enclosed spaces. 

Of course the fun had to come to an end as they exited the sewers and Jack immediately took to the skies with powerful wingbeats. Miko watched, actually impressed, at the sheer speed he racked up from such a short start. Apparently the jaeger tribe's muscles affected his wings as well. He should invest more time in his flying skills. 

From there it was more just Miko and Raf sprinting through the desert and taking potshots at each other. Without walls to keep him corralled Raf had an easier time keeping her away. Without surfaces to bounce off of to make a quick escape, Miko was a lot more at risk of getting hit. And just a single punch from Raf could  _ hurt _ if he landed one. 

There was only a sliver of moon in the sky, Miko occasionally glancing up to admire it. Every now and then she saw a dark shadow flick over it as Jack flew overhead. She didn't like Jasper, Nevada, but she could begrudgingly admit the desert was beautiful. 

"Here?" Raf said quietly, slowing down. "There's a water source near this canyon." Miko didn't bother to question his deduction and let him take the lead. 

Of course Raf shrunk down into human form to crawl through a jagged crack in the canyon wall. Miko followed him, hooves clicking lightly on the dirt and rocks. She heard dust and pebbles falling from above as Jack settled nearby, wings beating and flapping as he figured out a way down. 

"Coming, loser?" Miko smirked, ears flicking. Jack growled at her and she saw the way his eyes glowed sharper. "Oh please, chill out. Think you can fit?" Miko turned her back brazenly to him and his growling got louder. 

"Guys, come on." Raf said from up ahead, voice echoey and distant. 

The two traded surprised looks. Jack had to squeeze his wings against his back to fit but they eventually followed the scent of fellow changeling deeper in. 

There was a nice little cave deep in the earth, big enough for even Raf in troll form. In fact it looked like this was a place he frequented if the giant clawmarks on the walls said anything. It was dark, damp, cool- everything a changeling loved. Miko thought she could hear a trickle of water somewhere. 

"Dude, did you _ dig  _ this?" Miko spun in a circle, tracing hands over the roughly hewn walls. The only light source was a small candle Raf lit just as they entered. More than enough for changeling eyes but probably barely enough for the human ones Raf had at the moment. 

"Sometimes I just need a place to… destress." Raf mumbled, shoulders hunched. 

"Makes sense, nice and dark and secluded." Miko spun around again. "Bet it's completely cut off." She said pointedly. 

"No signals can reach in here, too much rock, and nobody else ever comes here." Raf confirmed as he sat down cross-legged on the rocks. "I dug out the majority of this myself. I doubt the Order even knows this exists." 

"Are we really going to talk about this?" Jack blurted. He paced, wings flexing uneasily. Probably not happy being separated from the sky. 

"Where else do we talk about keeping the biggest secret possible from the shapeshifting Illuminati that made us?" Miko plopped down on the floor next to Raf, hooves splayed awkwardly. She tucked her tail onto her lap and began to brush her tail fur out nervously. 

"So." Raf looked especially tiny next to Miko's lanky troll form. "They can never know?" 

"Obviously." Miko flicked a pebble and resisted the urge to fidget. "Alien robots of unimaginable strength with technology we couldn't begin to understand?" Miko's eyes narrowed. She stared at the multicolored stripes along her legs like they held the answers to their problems. "We can't let the Order have that. We can't let Gumm-Gumms have that." 

They couldn't let  _ Gunmar  _ have that. 

"But we're not just doing it for that… right?" Jack finally sat down, crouching into a comfortable position and tucking his thick tail around his feet. 

The changelings were all quiet for a long minute that made all of their hackles rise. What happened here would change their lives and probably get them killed. It would affect their potential fates and make or break them as Janus Order agents. 

"The Autobots went back for their friend. Even though he was dead." Raf said quietly. "They didn't even hesitate, even though it could've been just a computer malfunction." 

"They took us in to protect us," Jack added. "Even though we're just humans to them; puny, tiny, short-lived fleshlings." His ears were tilted backwards uneasily. "Even though Ratchet wasn't happy he still…" Jack trailed off, unsure how to finish that. Ratchet hadn't  _ really  _ protested them being there. He put on airs but if he really had a problem with it, he would have said a lot more. "And then they gave us  _ protection _ detail." 

"They split their forces, wasting precious energy and resources, to make sure we're safe." Miko's eyes were narrowed to sheer slits in thoughtfulness. "They  _ have  _ a human liaison, probably government, he could easily keep us hidden… or get rid of us without it being on their consciences." 

"But they still decided to keep us there and protected." Raf tilted his head. "Bumblebee said at one point that they're always low on energon." 

"Spending energy fighting the bad guys." Jack's wings curled around him in a blanket. "Spending energy protecting humans, humans they don't need anything from." 

"Did you hear Optimus talking to that agent- Fowler?" Raf played with his sleeves. "He  _ could  _ let humans deal with it, but doesn't." 

"They're concerned about loss of life." Miko opened her eyes fully and thin slitted pupils cut through her glowing eyes. "Boys, I think we found a miracle: beings who actually  _ care _ about those weaker and squishier than them." 

"It's not unprecedented, entirely," Raf said weakly in protest. 

"Really? Give me a good example. Trolls don't  _ care _ about humans," Jack snorted. "They just don't want to have eating a talking being on their conscience." Most trolls still reminisced on the flavor of human flesh and the ease of convenience it was in the 'good old days'. (Changelings of course often did still eat humans; it was an easy and convenient way to dispose of bodies.) 

"The situation might not be unprecedented, but  _ they  _ are." Miko hissed through her fangs. 

The children were silent. She was right. Something about the Autobots had struck all of them deeply. Something about them was just entirely _ new.  _ Even the bots who didn't  _ want  _ them around still wanted them  _ safe.  _

"What about our..?" Raf's hand went to his chest with a wince. 

The two who had been in the human world longer were sympathetic, reaching for their own scars only visible in troll form. Raf wasn't the youngest but he  _ was  _ the newest. His scar hurt more often. 

"Our familiars are in danger if we go against the Order." Miko felt her scruff bristling at the idea of her precious familiar not surviving. 

She hated it. She hated how her entire being hinged around the infant stuck in the Darklands in her place. She hated how she couldn't do anything for her own survival anymore. It was all about  _ Miko,  _ the  _ real  _ Miko. 

But the rest of her was so, so scared because the little baby held her actual heart in its fleshy chest. Miko, the changeling, the  _ fake,  _ pressed one clawed hand to her chest and felt the long, jagged scar. Felt the weak pulse of a fleshy human heart struggling to pump blood in a body that was made of too much stone. 

She hated that she depended so badly on the little baby she was irrevocably connected to, but the rest of Miko loved that baby more than anything else in her life. 

"Our familiars are human." She said quietly, feeling vulnerable. Both the boys twitched to her in automatic startled reflex. Changelings didn't show  _ weakness.  _ "Someday… someday I want her to know what that  _ means." _ Miko stared at stone claws and purple stripes and thin hooves. "But for now I think… I think I like the idea of being an Autobot more than being human." 

Humans had so many flaws, as short-lived and self-centered as they were. And changelings were front row and center to  _ all  _ of those flaws. 

But here the Autobots were, living their long, ancient lives and fighting their millions of years long war, and still _ caring  _ about the little squishies under their feet. 

"So. Nobody can know." Rafael said firmly. All of them nodded in unspoken agreement. "How do we go about doing that?" 

All three pairs of glowing eyes hardened, an unspoken bond forming right there and then. The moment they all decided to betray the Order they were officially fucked. They only had each other and they only had this secret. 

And Changelings didn't just  _ give up _ what little they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the changelings try to angle themselves so that their human forms and troll forms are behavioral opposites in at least some major way. It makes it easier to stay in character when you know you're completely different. Jack struggles with it, Raf is just melancholy regardless of his form, and Miko of course excels in it. Her human form is wacky and fun because as a changeling, she Can't be. 
> 
> Changeling Raf has a bad habit of just being... to nonchalant for everything. He's just not super interested in anything not computers
> 
> Miko's magic is prodigal but she's not very strong yet. Her illusions are, of course, top notch. 
> 
> The kids: traumatized   
> The bots: good guys   
> The kids: surprised pikachu meme
> 
> Congratulations Autobots, you guys officially have three shapeshifting assassins willing to murder for you!


	4. Stab All Your Friends In the Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some kids fight, some stuff gets done, and realizations are had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr's been blowing up for this AU so I'm workin on the next chapter already lol 
> 
> Just a note, if it's in italics it's another language of SOME kind. I hc that the Gumm-Gumms have like a few dozen different dialects of Trollish that most changelings at least know several of. They've kinda blended together into a mishmash of a chaotic shorthand language but there's still a few distinct ones

Information was key. Knowledge was power. And  _ none  _ of them were above anything. 

First step: ensure the Order was unaware. 

There was only so  _ much  _ they could do about that. They had hours of unaccounted whereabouts with cameras at the school saying they'd left with mysterious vehicles. 

Instead of admitting giant alien robots, their story was pretty simple. There was an old changeling adage about the best lies. 

"There's an old changeling hideout in the missile silo." Miko noted, tapping a map in their semi-redecorated cave that was rapidly becoming a base of operations. 

"Yeah, it was active when the base was in use but when it was decommissioned the changeling there sealed it and left it for future hideouts." Jack nodded. They all knew about it in case of emergencies. 

"So we tell the Order that the silo's reactivated, but  _ not  _ about what exactly is there?" Raf said. 

"And what about why  _ we're _ there?" Jack questioned with a confused frown. Miko raised an eyebrow at him, enjoying the way Raf was much more clever than she'd thought. 

"Haven't figured that out." Raf admitted. 

"The best lie," Miko started, leading them into it. 

"Is the absolute truth. We saw something they didn't want us to see?" Jack realized. 

"Yeah." Miko's mouth stretched into a fangy grin. "And they've got some  _ wack  _ technology they're working on, so we're trying to make sure nobody spots the changeling hideout hidden in the base." 

"So we're just a bunch of kids who wandered in and the adults there got stupidly attached to us, and are keeping tabs on us because some rivals of their might hurt us." Raf hummed. "Think it'll work?" 

"Oh it absolutely will if you two numbnuts don't screw it up." Miko crossed all four arms. It was painfully obvious from their flailing around that the other two really didn't have a clue what they were doing. "We use that plan, give the bots pseudonyms of soldiers that were assigned to bodyguard us. Keep it casual, remember: giving too many details means you planned to talk about it, means you planned a lie." 

The boys both looked annoyed at her but listened as she went on. Even if they didn't want to admit it they couldn't deny her better knowledge here. 

"But! We can't be all buddy buddy in troll form, it would make no sense. Obviously we're being forced to work together on a case that we'd much rather prefer we get the glory for all on our own. Being friendly? Won't work out. I'll think you two nerds aren't good enough for this kind of job and are gonna ruin our cover." 

"And I'll think you're a stuck up jerk and hate working with you." Jack deadpanned, growl serious. 

"I'll just be tagging along and more interested in the new tech they've got." Raf suggested. 

"No, because they'll try to get blueprints from you and we won't have anything to give them." Miko hissed. "Say you're _ trying _ to get in the tech department but we're still trying to earn enough trust to sneak around effectively. Security's pretty high." 

Raf adjusted his glasses. "You're… a lot better at this than us." Jack's wings were bristling and shifting around. 

"You two suck at changeling things." Miko looked to them with a snarl. "And I'm better than both of you." Her head tilted up, fangs baring. A crackling, physical tension leeched through the room in an instant. 

Jack let out a roaring snarl. 

"What are you trying to say?!" He was already getting in a fighting position. 

"I should be the leader of our little rebellion." Her grin was a smile, a warning, a threat. She knew she was needling Jack. His temper in troll form was unstoppable and uncontrollable. They needed to get authority hammered out  _ now  _ before it caught them trouble in the middle of an operation. 

With little warning and a lot more speed than she expected, Jack was on top of her with an earsplitting roar. She whipped knives out of her sheaths with two hands, struggling to push him off with two others. 

Before the fight could  _ actually _ get underway there was a flash of yellow-green light and then giant hands were picking them up off the ground. 

"Don't fight in my cave!" Raf growled, physically pulling them apart. Each of them dangled from a separate hand like whelps. "Or at least not around our supplies!" His voice rumbled deeply through them as he bodily chunked them towards the exit. 

Miko rolled to a stop and bolted through the crags. She hadn't realized how  _ strong  _ Jack was. He'd nearly overpowered her in the few seconds he'd had her pinned. And if Raf wanted them out, he'd get them  _ out.  _ She had to take this elsewhere. Somewhere with more of an advantage. 

The tunnels they used to reach Raf's cave were narrow enough to give her a perfect advantage and Miko took it. She bounced and jumped off walls as Jack charged after her. 

Miko reached two arms behind her and drew two of her curver, hooked blades from their holsters. Two daggers and two swords flashed together as Jack roared and came after her. 

She sent one dagger into a weak spot in the crook of his elbow where his stone skin was thinner. He nearly charged directly into her before she leapt directly up into the narrow canyon. 

Miko rolled midair and sent another knife into his back where his wing joints made his skin weaker. Jack let out a pained yelp and then she was landing on his back hooves first. One hoof's dewclaw caught the edge of her dagger's handle and shoved it in deeper, sharp toes digging into the bleeding wound. 

Jack went down  _ hard. _ Before he could do anything else Miko grabbed both his ram shaped horns and held both her hooks to the front of his throat. 

_ "Yield."  _ She hissed in one of the many Gumm-Gumm dialects they all knew. 

Jack was stiff. She knew he had more than enough strength to rip his head out of her hands and he knew it too. But to do that would mean slitting his own throat. 

The gray changeling growled low in his chest. She held her hooks closer to his throat. 

His ears flattened and he went limp. 

Miko relaxed slightly and pulled her swords away. Just as she stepped off of his back he swung his wings out and they smacked into the rock walls. Miko barely dodged them. 

Three simultaneous thunderous  _ cracks _ echoed through the canyon. 

Miko pointed her swords at him with a loud hiss but then froze. She'd always thought his wings were more fragile than the rest of him, just like most other stalkling tribed changeling. Apparently they were just as tough as the rest of him. 

His wings had embedded several inches deep into the stone walls and were pulling themselves free like it was styrofoam. 

His  _ tail  _ had created a three foot crater that could've fit a microwave in it. 

Jack pulled the clubbed limb free of the rocks, cracking rocks and sending rubble flying. He stared her down and his tail whipped around his feet like the thick clubbed part of it  _ didn't  _ weigh like fifty pounds. 

Miko lifted her chin and realized she'd underestimated Jack.  _ Stupid stupid stupid.  _ Underestimate yourself and you might survive. Underestimate your enemy and you were dead. She stared back his challenge regardless. 

There was a brief standoff as they both waited to see if the other would resume the fight. She'd technically won, but he'd proven that he  _ could  _ beat her. 

But _she_ hadn't even used magic yet. 

"Are you two done making a racket?" Raf's human head peeked around a corner looking vaguely annoyed. 

"Depends. Are you going to challenge me for squad leader?" Miko twisted her fangs in a warning snarl. 

"No." Raf's little human nose wrinkled up. "You know more about infiltration and misdirection than the two of us combined." He said as if it were obvious. 

Jack's jaw worked and then he tilted his head, bowing it towards her hesitantly. 

Temporary cooperation. She'd have to take it. Miko sheathed her hookswords behind her again and crossed all four arms with a huff. 

"You know, you're not _ nearly _ as bad in action as you are in training." Miko tilted an eyebrow questioningly. 

Jack's wings shrugged wordlessly and he grunted as he walked back towards their base. 

"Hey, Jack, need me to pull those knives out?" Raf said idly. 

He grunted again. Miko smirked and sauntered in behind them. 

It was great to be the best.

* * *

They spent the whole night planning and then executing their plan. Fortunately Jasper wasn't exactly filled with changelings - their superiors often lived elsewhere and only visited shortly for training. Only one remained in Jasper fulltime and he was mostly a glorified babysitter. 

Nonetheless, the moment they had their plans together the trio visited Mr. Asura's house. 

The plan went… pretty okay. They were fortunate they didn't have much time before they'd be missed at home because while confused he didn't press for many details. There was of course a brief order to see them at school for 'detention' to get more details but Miko wrangled only herself into that. The boys would only mess up their story. 

After school Miko texted the boys their cover was in place and all three changelings headed out to meet the bots together. 

It was, of course, an absolute blast for all of them. They didn't usually get the  _ chance _ to spend free time goofing around. It was usually filled with studying, work, or training. 

Seeing Optimus and Ratchet leave the moment they got to the base, promptly followed by Arcee taking Bumblebee on patrol, the kids looked up at Bulkhead nonchalantly. 

"You guys aren't super big on us being here, huh?" Jack folded his arms and leaned against the wall. 

"It's not that, it's… uh…" Bulkhead scratched the back of his head. 

"It's okay, we get it! You guys are too busy saving the world and stuff to look after some kids!" Miko waved her hand flippantly. "How about a tour around base?" Bulkhead was looking at her and missed the flicking motion of her fingers to the other two. 

"Sorry, I've got homework to do." Raf said quietly, pulling out his laptop. "Could you help me, Jack?" 

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged. "Don't know what I can help  _ you _ with, you're a mini genius, but I'll see what I can do." Raf smiled at him. 

"I don't know-" Bulkhead started, but Miko was already jogging down the nearest hallway. 

"Come on! Let's go explore and leave the nerds to their boring stuff." 

Bulkhead looked between the three children and clearly decided that Miko was the one he needed to keep an eye on. "Don't uh- don't touch anything?" He said, clomping off after Miko. 

Jack and Raf waited until Bulkhead was out of sight to go examine the thing Miko had pointed at. 

A big glass container sat in a corner with some sort of spindly, broken machinery sealed inside. 

"There are cameras around right?" Jack felt nauseous looking at the thing. 

"Yeah. And I think we're gonna need a nose to sniff this thing out properly, so it's a no-go to really examine right now." Raf pointed his finger to the bottom of the container. 

Purple liquid oozed out of the machine. 

"What  _ is  _ that?" Jack shuffled his feet. He didn't have much of a magical sense but he could tell that stuff was  _ gross.  _ It felt like it was scraping the back of his eyelids and pulling his stomach into knots. 

"I couldn't tell you without better senses." Raf looked grossed out too. "But if Miko could sense it across the room, I don't think it's good. Does it look…  _ familiar  _ to you?" Raf wrung his hands. 

"Kind of…" Jack frowned. That purple glow was definitely familiar... "It looks kind of like the twisted spire rivers." 

In the Darklands, twisted and corrupted spire crystals often leaked a glowing purple fluid into dangerous rivers. The sheer dark energy could dissolve trolls whole, irradiate them, drive them mad, any number of things. 

Gumm-Gumms didn't fear the rivers, of course, and Jack had never been allowed to be up close to one. The rivers were a source of food and energy in a wasteland where no fuel could be ignored. Changelings weren't allowed near the stuff. Not "worthy" enough to drink it. 

Raf's breath caught when Jack said that. 

"Oh." His voice was a whisper. "Jack. They run on spire crystals." 

"...What?" Jack turned to crane his neck down at the small boy. 

"Bee told me their fuel is called energon, it comes in crystals but they turn it into a liquid to drink." Raf laid a hand on the glass staring at the familiar glow. "I've _ seen  _ the dark rivers up close before. And the bots  _ smell _ like spire crystals." 

Jack frowned. "And..? So spire crystals are energon crystals?" 

_ "And _ this stuff might be twisted spire." 

Oh. 

_ Oh.  _

"You're telling me-" Jack knelt close and hissed in Gumm-Gumm.  _ "You're telling me that this is the stuff that drove  _ **_Gunmar_ ** _ mad-?!"  _

_ "Yes, and we need to back away. Our human forms are weaker to radiation."  _ Raf swallowed and took a few steps back. 

_ "What do we do?"  _ Jack hissed. 

_ "I don't know!"  _ Raf waved his hands.  _ "Maybe the bots can use it safely? Maybe the bots use it anyways? We don't know enough!"  _

Jack and Raf watched the sealed container, half expecting it to come to life any moment. Raf had seen the dark rivers kill trolls and then revive them into raging stone statues that ripped apart anything that came near. Jack had heard plenty of bad stories about them in turn. 

"We should… go do homework." Raf said reluctantly. There wasn't anything they could do with the lack of information they had. 

"Yeah. Hey, maybe Miko will find something cool by the time she comes back?" Jack nudged him awkwardly. 

As in, maybe she'll have found the hidden changeling lock while running around. 

"Maybe." Raf was quiet as they left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you xdeusxmachinax on tumblr for letting me borrow Mr. Asura as a random name drop changeling! 
> 
> I love writing intrigue for someone who's not super into mysteries lol. Maybe because I'm more a fan of Knowing the crazy stuff 
> 
> Raf's not a huge fan of them having to use his cave as a hideout but he's willing to let it go as long as they don't end up breaking half their equipment in fights. He's also the undisputed STRONGEST of the three, Jack isn't too far behind for now but Raf's got a lot more growing to do. 
> 
> Jack's kinda got the equivalent of an Anklyosaurus tail and he's very clumsy with it. It can cause... a Lot of damage 
> 
> Miko is the queen of stealth, agility, and Many Pointy Things. Her fav swords are kind of a cross between Nomura's and Jet from ATLA's. Jack could outmuscle her but she'd beat him any day just because the only Other thing he has over her is flight. She's oldest, she's scariest, and she's fully willing to stab an ally in the back. The perfect changeling. :) 
> 
> (Don't worry, Jack's not actually too hurt. Once the knives are out the holes will heal pretty quickly. Jaeger heritage. They all know this.) Miko's also a little baffled that Jack is one of those people who can't do shit in practice but when actually doing the thing aren't so bad 
> 
> I've talked a lot on tumblr about my theories of energon and trolls. If it exists in the Trollhunter universe there's NO way trolls haven't found it before. So trolls call energon crystals- spire crystals. And if you look at Gunmar's birthstone, it looks an awful lot like dark energon... no, dark energon didn't 'drive Gunmar mad' so much as CREATED him mad, but things get a little lost in translation. 
> 
> Plus, if Unicron lies at the center of Earth, his lifeblood would be everywhere in the earth. In this AU, it mostly spilled into the wastelands of the Darklands. And Gumm-Gumms can't be picky with what they have to consume.

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU GUYS A TON FOR READING this first chunk is mostly Jack's perspective as he's a good starting point 
> 
> I have a good chunk written up so far! Do go check out the tumblr tag #tfp the kids aren't alright @weregreatatcrime for art and lots of headcanons!


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